Zero Historytag:spyblog.org.uk,2008-08-15:/ssl/zerohistory//252011-06-12T06:28:58ZZero History blog
http://ZeroHistory.netMovable Type 5.2.11"Zero History" UK paperback edition publication 28th July 2011tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2011:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.44062011-06-12T06:23:56Z2011-06-12T06:28:58ZThe UK paperback edition of Zero History by William Gibson is due to be published on 28th July 2011. See Amazon.co.uk: Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Viking (28 July 2011) ISBN-10: 0670919551 ISBN-13: 978-0670919550 RRP: £8.99 Price: £5.57...Memetic Engineer
The UK paperback edition of Zero History by William Gibson is due to be published on 28th July 2011.

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Gabriel Hounds blog analyses "Systemneustart" the German translation of "Zero History"tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2011:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.44052011-06-12T05:34:32Z2011-06-12T06:58:14Z The German translation of Zero History is entitled Systemneutstart - "System Re-Boot" William Gibson (Author), Hannes Riffel (Translator) Hardcover: 491 pages Publisher: Klett-Cotta Verlag (May 2011) ISBN-10: 3608501134 ISBN-13: 978-3608501131 A class of students at the Philipps-Universität Marburg in Germany, have a group blog, which analyses some of the themes of this novel: It was created as part of the exercise "The blog as literary journalism book companion" in the summer semester 2011 in Division 9 of the Philipps-Universität...Memetic Engineer

The German translation of Zero History is entitled Systemneutstart - "System Re-Boot"

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Transport for London Oyster Card signed by William Gibsontag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.43112010-11-21T14:33:02Z2010-11-21T15:25:48ZSeveral characters in Zero History e.g. Milgrim and Heidi, take journeys on the London Underground Tube system. Here is an image of a Transport for London Oyster Card - prepaid London Underground Tube and Bus travel card (but also a RFID / centralised database tracking and surveillance system) signed by William Gibson, at Forbidden Plant, London, Saturday 9th October 2010, To protect your privacy and personal security from 13.56 MHz licence free Industrial Scientific Medical radio frequency band snoopers (both...Memetic Engineer
Several characters in Zero History e.g. Milgrim and Heidi, take journeys on the London Underground Tube system.

Here is an image of a Transport for London Oyster Card - prepaid London Underground Tube and Bus travel card (but also a RFID / centralised database tracking and surveillance system) signed by William Gibson, at Forbidden Plant, London, Saturday 9th October 2010,

To protect your privacy and personal security from 13.56 MHz licence free Industrial Scientific Medical radio frequency band snoopers (both legal and illegal). You can disable the passive radio tracking behaviour of these cards by simply lining their plastic wallets, with some aluminium cooking foil. which stops the embedded antenna loop from powering up the microchip. The same sort of protection is also needed for RFID "biometric" Passports.

There is also the practical issue of preventing accidental deductions of money from your Oyster card, by maladjusted or poorly maintained or hacked Card Readers. These are normally specially de-tuned to have an effective range of only a couple of centimetres. However , the radio equipment, in order to comply with the international standards and markets, is actually designed for Portals or Doorways i.e. a couple of metres range, even without illegal amplification.

There have been times when the narrow London Underground turnstyle gates have picked up signals from someone going through a gate on either side of them, thereby secretly deducting money from the prepaid card, even when someone has been using a paper ticket, and has had their Oyster card still in their pocket.

Using the Oyster Card, leaves a financial and time / location database transaction trail, which is used anonymously in bulk, to help Transport for London optimise their services.

However this data has been specifically exempted from the Data Protection Act 2000, by Ministerial fiat, under the previous Labour government, and is now handed over, "in bulk, in real time", together with the tens of thousands of CCTV surveillance camera live feeds or recordings, which infest the London Tube and Bus systems, to the Metropolitan Police Service, for mass surveillance database mining, in secret, for "suspicious" travel patterns. This sweeps up the innocent travel patterns and other data of millions of innocent people, as well as the alleged "terrorist suspects" which justify this policy.

However, some "cyberpunks" etc., have for years, been trying to frustrate this sort of "Big Brother" snooping on individuals, by regularly swapping their Oyster cards with friends or acquaintances, something which does not affecting the legitimate aggregated, anonymised bulk travel pattern data uses, which Transport for London might need to improve their services to the public.

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Zero History - Drop Book @ Caffe Nero, Seven Dials, Londontag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.43022010-10-10T04:51:54Z2010-10-18T05:23:47ZMemetic Engineer
The William Gibson Discussion Board (WGB), members who met up for the Forbidden Planet book signing on Saturday 9th October 2010, decided to annotate a signed copy of Zero History as a "Drop Book".

We chose Caffè Nero at Seven Dials, London, which is where Milgrim is photographed by DCIS Agent Winnie for the Drop.

Within a few seconds of the Drop, it was snapped up by a member of the public called Tammy, who had recently purchased a copy of Spook Country in order to catch up with her reading of William Gibson's works, so it went to an ideal first reader.

Hopefully she will feed back some comments either here or to the other annoted URLs, and will then pass the book on to someone else.

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William Gibson reads Chapter 16 Honor Bar from Zero History - Foyles, London, Tuesday 5th October 2010tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.43012010-10-06T14:46:44Z2010-10-06T14:52:54ZOn Tuesday 5th October 2010, at Foyles, in London, William Gibson read Zero History Chapter 16. Honor Bar, where Milgrim and Special Agent Winnie Tung Whitaker, of the Department of Defence, Office of the Inspector General, Defence Criminal Investigative Service "DCIS" agree to communicate electronically using a couple of (already registered and real) Twitter accounts He mentioned that few people so far amongst the fans and critics on this book tour had asked about Winnie, perhaps, he speculated, because she...Memetic Engineer
On Tuesday 5th October 2010, at Foyles, in London, William Gibson read Zero History Chapter 16. Honor Bar, where Milgrim and Special Agent Winnie Tung Whitaker, of the Department of Defence, Office of the Inspector General, Defence Criminal Investigative Service "DCIS" agree to communicate electronically using a couple of (already registered and real) Twitter accounts

He mentioned that few people so far amongst the fans and critics on this book tour had asked about Winnie, perhaps, he speculated, because she is one of the few characters in his writings who is not a freelancer (or a billionaire), has a bureaucratically constrained job and has children to support.

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25% discount for Zero History blog readers - William Gibson in conversation with Cory Doctorow, Cadogan Hall, London, Monday October 4th, 2010 7pm - 8.30 pmtag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42972010-09-29T18:28:31Z2010-09-29T19:06:48ZGiven how popular William Gibson's previous reading / signing events in London have been, it is perhaps not a surprise that this forthcoming event for Zero History is much more expensive than the ones held at the TUC Congress hall, for Pattern Recognition and Spook Country: William Gibson on 'Zero History' in conversation with Cory Doctorow Monday October 4th, 2010 Doors open at 6.15pm. The event will begin at 7.00pm and finish at 8.30pm. Event Info American-born William Gibson is...Memetic Engineer
Given how popular William Gibson's previous reading / signing events in London have been, it is perhaps not a surprise that this forthcoming event for Zero History is much more expensive than the ones held at the TUC Congress hall, for Pattern Recognition and Spook Country:

Doors open at 6.15pm. The event will begin at 7.00pm and finish at 8.30pm.

Event Info

American-born William Gibson is one of the most acclaimed and successful writers of the last twenty years. He coined the phrase "cyberspace" and developed the concept in his bestselling first novel Neuromancer, creating an iconography for the Information Age long before widespread use of the Internet. His novels have moved gradually away from science fiction and futuristic work and now examine the strange contemporary world we inhabit.

Gibson will be talking about his life and work, and in particular his new book Zero History which is set largely in London and captures the paranoia and fear of our post-Crash times.

This event is organised by Intelligence Squared, who produce a glossy magazine and who hold televised and internet broadcast public debates .

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Some recent Zero History tweets by William Gibsontag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42732010-08-14T09:17:02Z2010-08-14T09:33:38ZSome recent Zero History tweets by William Gibson https://twitter.com/GreatDismal/status/21071771903 RT @lighthed @GreatDismal Bigend's preferred method of travel? http://bit.ly/b1jS2M [HB is moving on to an Ekranoplan. Early September.] Fri Aug 13 15:14:03 +0000 2010 https://twitter.com/GreatDismal/status/21010989672 RT @jaypea_aitken: @GreatDismal when can I get my paws on Zero History in the UK? [Sept 7] Thu Aug 12 22:30:43 +0000 2010 https://twitter.com/GreatDismal/status/20943831373 RT @MatiasBuselli: @GreatDismal is the UK edition of Zero History different from the US, besides the cover? [Not that I know of.]...Memetic Engineer
Some recent Zero History tweets by William Gibson

@paparatti Used to be about a year, til paperback? Actually, I don't know when, for Zero History.

Wed Aug 11 18:21:14 +0000 2010

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Prepare for ZERO HISTORY by William Gibson - YouTube video trailertag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42702010-08-08T13:41:45Z2010-08-08T18:35:02ZHat tip to Node Magazine: YouTube video trailer for Zero History: Prepare for ZERO HISTORY by William Gibson "Someone is developing what may prove to be a somewhat new way to transmit brand vision." "A certain genuinely provocative use of negative space. "Who?" "I don't kno," he said. "I haven't been able to find out.I feel that someone has read and understood my playbook. And may possibly be extending it. "Then send Pamela. She understands all that. Or someone else."...Memetic Engineer
Hat tip to Node Magazine:

"Someone is developing what may prove to be a somewhat new way to transmit brand vision."
"A certain genuinely provocative use of negative space.

"Who?"

"I don't kno," he said. "I haven't been able to find out.I feel that someone has read and understood my playbook. And may possibly be extending it.

"Then send Pamela. She understands all that. Or someone else."

"But that is exactly it. Because they 'understand all that' they won't find the edge. they won't find the new. And worse, they'll trample on it, inadvertently crush it, beneath a certain mediocrity inherent in professional competence."
"I need a wild card. I need you."
"Does 'The Gabriel Hounds' mean anything to you?"

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William Gibson - Zero History promotion in the UK - Festival of Ideas, Watershed, Bristol, Wednesday 6th October 2010 6:15 pmtag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42682010-08-07T20:57:20Z2010-08-07T21:40:08ZYet another hat tip to the inestimable Fashion Police, for again spotting this before us: - new window">Festival of Ideas: William Gibson Wed 06 Oct, 18:15 William Gibson is the bestselling author of 10 novels. His first, Neuromancer, sold more than six million copies worldwide and his books and short stories continue to reach massive audiences and win just about every award going. He coined the term cyberspace and is credited with predicting the rise of reality television and establishing...Memetic Engineer
Yet another hat tip to the inestimable Fashion Police, for again spotting this before us:

William Gibson is the bestselling author of 10 novels. His first, Neuromancer, sold more than six million copies worldwide and his books and short stories continue to reach massive audiences and win just about every award going. He coined the term cyberspace and is credited with predicting the rise of reality television and establishing the conceptual foundations for the rapid growth of virtual environments such as video games and the Web. His comment - 'The future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed' - first made in 2003 continues to be used widely. He has collaborated extensively with performance artists, filmmakers and musicians and has influenced many other authors as well as design, academia, cyberculture, technology, and the film The Matrix. His new book, Zero History, set largely in London, spookily captures the paranoia and fear of our post-Crash, late Capitalist times. A rare opportunity to see one of the world's finest writers, someone who has had, and continues to have, huge influence in the making and understanding of the modern world.

(The acronym "FOI" normally means "Freedom of Information" rather than "Festival of Ideas")

Will William Gibson mention interesting local developments like the Bristol graffiti scene which spawned Banksy ?

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William Gibson: Zero History @ Foyles , Charing Cross Rd., London, - 6.30pm Tuesday 5th October 2010tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42642010-07-31T10:58:49Z2010-08-07T21:42:56ZVia William Gibson Board: october london gibson hacking 2010: Tuesday 5th October, 6.30pm William Gibson: Zero History The Gallery at Foyles He's known to many as the noir prophet, to others as the man who coined the term cyberspace. To us, he's the visionary behind Neuromancer, Spook Country and many of the most ground-breaking, world-shifting, mind-boggling SF inventions ever to land on our bookshelves. In a rare visit to the UK, he lands in our Gallery to take us to...Memetic Engineer
Via William Gibson Board: october london gibson hacking 2010:

Tuesday 5th October, 6.30pm

William Gibson: Zero History

The Gallery at Foyles

He's known to many as the noir prophet, to others as the man who coined the term cyberspace. To us, he's the visionary behind Neuromancer, Spook Country and many of the most ground-breaking, world-shifting, mind-boggling SF inventions ever to land on our bookshelves. In a rare visit to the UK, he lands in our Gallery to take us to ever more unfathomable realms with Zero History. Not to be missed.

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William Gibson on 'Zero History' - Intelligence Squared, Cadogan Hall, London, Monday October 4th, 2010 7pm - 8.30 - tickets £20 - £25 !tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42652010-07-31T10:03:52Z2010-08-07T21:45:35ZGiven how popular William Gibson's previous reading / signing events in London have been, it is perhaps not a surprise that this forthcoming event for Zero History is much more expensive than the ones held at the TUC Congress hall, for Pattern Recognition and Spook Country . William Gibson on 'Zero History' Monday October 4th, 2010 Doors open at 6.15pm. The event will begin at 7.00pm and finish at 8.30pm. Event Info 'In terms of influence he is probably the...Memetic Engineer
Given how popular William Gibson's previous reading / signing events in London have been, it is perhaps not a surprise that this forthcoming event for Zero History is much more expensive than the ones held at the TUC Congress hall, for Pattern Recognition and Spook Country .

Doors open at 6.15pm. The event will begin at 7.00pm and finish at 8.30pm.

Event Info

'In terms of influence he is probably the most important novelist of the past two decades' Steven Poole, Guardian

American-born William Gibson is one of the most acclaimed and successful writers of the last twenty years. He coined the phrase "cyberspace" and developed the concept in his bestselling first novel Neuromancer, creating an iconography for the Information Age long before widespread use of the Internet. Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive completed his first trilogy. He has written six further novels, moving gradually away from science fiction and futuristic work, instead writing about the strange contemporary world we inhabit.

Gibson will be talking about his life and work, and in particular his new book Zero History, which is set largely in London and captures the paranoia and fear of our post-Crash times.
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But of course the British interest in debate did not suddenly disappear. It was perhaps to answer the half-conscious sense of a vacuum that Intelligence Squared began. In 2002, its founders Jeremy O'Grady and John Gordon noticed that Lady Antonia Fraser filled the 750-seat hall of the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington with her talk about Marie-Antoinette. Why shouldn't they do the same, they wondered, with debates? They set up a company to achieve this.

As the title implies, the idea multiplies itself. Last year, Intelligence Squared ran 27 events. Frequently, there is such demand for the £25 tickets that they have to move out of the RGS to the more intimidating grandeur of Methodist Central Hall. Intelligence Squared has already licensed the use of its name in New York, Sydney, Kiev and Hong Kong, and is in the process of doing so in Nigeria and Brazil. It has a popular website on which films of the debates appear and written and weekly topical mini-debates can be found.

William Gibson will not, presumably, be debating anything, but this event and venue do show his increasing status as an important cultural icon in the United Kingdom, as elsewhere.

What else will William Gibson be doing between this Monday 4th October event and the Forbidden Planet Megstore book signing on Saturday 9th October 2010 ?

The hard core William Gibson Discussion Board fans from the UK and Europe will probably be mostly at the Saturday book signing.

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Zero History book signing by William Gibson - Forbidden Planet, London, UK - 1pm - 2pm, Saturday 9th October 2010,tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42612010-07-30T21:00:05Z2010-08-07T21:44:56ZThanks again to Fashion Police, for spotting this before us: Zero History book signing by William Gibson - Forbidden Planet, London, UK - Saturday 9th October 2010 13:00 - 14:00 Saturday 09 October 13:00 - 14:00 London Megastore 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by William Gibson. He will be signing his new novel ZERO HISTORY at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 9th October from...Memetic Engineer
Thanks again to Fashion Police, for spotting this before us:

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by William Gibson. He will be signing his new novel ZERO HISTORY at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 9th October from 1 - 2pm.

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Zero History by William Gibson - United Kingdom edition to be published on 30th August 2010tag:p10.secure.hostingprod.com,2010:/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/zerohistory//25.42412010-06-29T20:20:30Z2010-06-29T20:32:04Z[Hat tip to Fashion Police for spotting this] The quirks of hardback book publishing mean that, just like Spook Country Penguin are publishing Zero History in the United Kingdom on Thursday 2nd September 2010, five days before the official United States release scheduled for Tuesday 7th September 2010 Penguin Books - Zero History by William Gibson - United Kingdom edition - 2nd September 2010 Zero History William Gibson Format : Hardback ISBN: 9780670919529 Size : 153 x 234mm Pages :...Memetic Engineer
Fashion Police for spotting this]

The quirks of hardback book publishing mean that, just like Spook Country Penguin are publishing Zero History in the United Kingdom on Thursday 2nd September 2010, five days before the official United States release scheduled for Tuesday 7th September 2010

Does this mean that William Gibson will again visit the Edinburgh International Book Festival and then London, in August, before his hectic United States Zero History book promotion tour in September, just like he did in 2007 for Spook Country ?